Chicago Fed National Activity Meets Expectations, but Disappoints

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) is out for the month of March, and this is often used as one of the first super-regional economic readings. It is used to track economic activity and inflation metrics, and it is a weighted average of some 85 existing monthly indicators based on data from around the nation, rather than just in the Midwest.

Monday morning's report put the CFNAI at 0.20, right in-line with the Bloomberg consensus reading. The number looks higher than the preliminary report for February of 0.14, but the February reading was actually revised higher to 0.53.

A zero value for the CFNAI indicates that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend rate of growth, while negative values indicate below-average growth and positive values indicate above-average growth. Though this is a national index, it is not one of the more widely followed economic reports.